There are probably few people who can immediately explain the meaning of the word “CS” when they hear it.
“CS (Customer Satisfaction)” often refers to the degree to which customers were satisfied with the products and services they purchased and used.
On the other hand, “CS (Customer Success)” has the meaning of efforts for customer success. The concept of customer success is essential to improving customer satisfaction, so it is important to understand the differences and benefits between the two.
This time, we will explain the specific analysis method of customer satisfaction, as well as the concept and measures of customer success, which is an initiative to further improve customer satisfaction.
What is CS (Customer Satisfaction)?
CS may be an abbreviation for Customer Satisfaction or
Customer Success
.
Customer Satisfaction means “customer satisfaction” and is a numerical value that measures the degree to which customers are satisfied with the services and products provided by a company.
Customer Success, on the other hand, refers to the attitude of actively supporting customer success, as well as the activities, processes, and job types performed for that purpose.
In the same way that positions such as
marketing
and
inside sales
are placed, an increasing number of companies are also dividing up roles as a team.
Both have different meanings, such as whether they quantify customer satisfaction or whether they are activities on the company’s side to increase customer satisfaction by supporting customer success.
However, what they both have in common is that they aim to increase customer satisfaction.
Why is customer satisfaction important?
Why did “customer satisfaction” become so important in the first place?
Traditional product development has focused on productivity and efficiency. With the passage of time, the “customer’s perspective” such as word of mouth began to be emphasized in evaluating the quality of products and services, and there was a growing awareness that the intentions of customers as consumers should be taken into account.
Improving customer satisfaction is thought to have benefits that lead to increased sales, such as an increase in repeat customers and corporate
branding
.
Increase in repeat customers
By improving customer satisfaction, we can expect an increase in repeat customers.
For example, when you purchase a product, if the effect exceeds your expectations, your level of satisfaction with the product will increase, and if you are dissatisfied with it, your level of satisfaction will decrease.
I’m sure everyone reading this article has at least one favorite restaurant. Don’t you want to visit a store that provides good service over and over again?
The higher the customer satisfaction level, the more likely they will be repeat customers, and the more consumption can be expected.
Increasing the number of repeat customers leads to increased sales for the company, which each customer brings over a lifetime. This is referred to as ”
lifetime customer value (LTV)
,” and improving customer satisfaction also affects LTV.
corporate branding
High customer satisfaction also leads to brand image. Many people may have a positive impression of a store that has many existing customers.
In recent years, it has become difficult to differentiate product features and service quality, so efforts to improve customer satisfaction will appeal to customers and serve as a significant means of differentiating your company from competitors. As a result, it can be said that this directly leads to improved corporate performance and profit margins.
Customer Satisfaction, an indicator to measure customer satisfaction
CS (Customer Satisfaction) is an index or concept that measures “the degree to which customers are satisfied (customer satisfaction level)” with the services and products provided by a company.
Understanding performance evaluation is essential to understanding CS. There are many ways to do this, including online analysis, surveys, and direct customer feedback. Accurate CS analysis is not possible with vague judgments such as “probably…”. In some cases, it may be necessary to use statistical data published by research companies or the government, or to use evaluation methods that track trends in market size and spending on products.
If you can regularly evaluate and improve the value of your products and services based on CS numbers, you can create a virtuous cycle in marketing, such as increasing sales and developing new customers.
Web trend analysis
Many users search for various keywords on the Web every day, and by knowing this, you can understand the potential needs of your customers.
If you are a company that sells your own products or services, you can infer the information your customers are looking for by analyzing the number of accesses to your website, product pages, pricing pages, etc.
In recent years, as a form of SNS marketing, social listening, which collects and analyzes user voices on SNS, and word-of-mouth sites have also been widely used as a source of user information. It is important to analyze the latent needs of your customers from this kind of information on the web.
Questionnaire survey
Survey methods include the following media:
- Fill out the questionnaire form
- Send survey form via email
- SNS
- Smartphone app
For example, using these methods, you can ask people to rate their level of satisfaction with a product or service on a scale of 1 to 10.
Questionnaire surveys are extremely important to understand performance evaluation and to listen to customer feedback.
The key to improving CS is to reflect the results of the survey in actual products and services. You can also discover latent needs that your customers themselves may not be aware of, so let’s take advantage of this.
Interview actual customers
We directly listen to current issues and customer needs.
Methods include telephone surveys, online tools, and in-person interviews.
Hearing the voice directly allows you to get a more realistic assessment of things like temperature and urgency.
The problem with hearing directly from customers is that it is necessary to infer their needs based on their comments and concerns, and customers may not be able to faithfully convey all their opinions.
Furthermore, compared to surveys, it requires more human resources, but it also has the advantage of allowing you to obtain more flexible responses than surveys.
Customer Success needs to be strengthened to improve customer satisfaction
Customer Success literally means “customer success,” but in business, it refers to “a team, organization, role, or initiative that is committed to a successful customer experience.”
This refers to efforts by companies to actively support customers so that they can have a successful experience that makes them feel glad that they used this product or service.
In order to improve customer satisfaction, you should first think about how to strengthen customer success for your products and services.
So, what is important to improve customer satisfaction from a customer success perspective?
This means anticipating and responding to the questions and concerns that customers may have about the products they purchase.
By proactively approaching users’ potential concerns and coming up with solutions, customer satisfaction can be expected to improve.
Rather than just selling the product, if you focus on proactive follow-up such as “How do you want the customer to use the product you sell?”, you can proactively take actions toward customer success instead of responding passively. You can wake it up.
A similar term is “customer support,” but this has a passive role of providing support in response to customer complaints, whereas customer success is active and efficient support for customer success. I have a moving role.
The fundamental concept of customer success is that “customers can benefit” and “customers can be successful through their products and services.”
Why customer success is attracting attention
In recent years, subscription models have become mainstream. This is a form of service that has low initial costs and can be used for as long as needed. Computer software that was once sold out and could be used permanently has now become a service that requires a monthly usage fee.
As we move from an era in which we “owned” things to an era in which we “use” things, companies are now required to take measures to ensure that their products and services continue to be used. There is an increasing need to increase customer satisfaction in order to improve retention rates.
Benefits of doing customer success
① Increase customer loyalty and maximize LTV
Customer loyalty
refers to the trust and attachment that customers have toward a company’s brand, products, and services. By increasing customer loyalty, you can expect them to continue purchasing products and using services.
I think there are many people who are particular about having all their music equipment from the same manufacturer.
Increasing customer loyalty increases the likelihood that your company will choose your services over your competitors. Furthermore, you can expect to be introduced to friends and shared on SNS, and customer success measures will also lead to an increase in LTV (customer lifetime value).
② Service improvement/development of new services
Customer Success has many points of contact with customers and can receive a wide variety of feedback.
If you know your customers’ needs, you can improve your products and services based on that information.
Knowing potential needs will lead to the development of new services.
summary
This time, we introduced the two meanings of the word CS: “Customer Satisfaction” and “Customer Success.”
Both are essential elements in measures to improve customer satisfaction. By implementing measures that improve customer satisfaction and lead to customer success, companies can also gain benefits that lead to increased sales, such as an increase in repeat customers and branding.
However, CS measures do not produce immediate results.
A virtuous cycle can be expected as each customer repeats a satisfying experience, leading to improved customer satisfaction and corporate brand value. Listen to your customers’ needs and strive to improve your products and services every day.